Fall On Your Knees by Lisa Henry & J.A. Rock

What happens to a couple when playing with a third person starts to mean more to both of them?

The story was mostly very kinky sex with lots of pain involved. Asa and Javier have been in a long-term committed relationship. They are both Doms, and they regularly bring a third person, a sub, into their night of fun. Asa has been crushing on Drew, his coworker, for the last six months and wants to invite him to play. You can already see the potential for some serious issues with the relationship happening. Fortunately, that aspect was not a major focus and limited the angst of the story.

My biggest issue with the plot was that it tried to be more than just a kinky story, but it wasn’t able to sell me on the new relationship. Drew really didn’t know Javier or Asa very well, and even though they all acknowledged that fact, it still didn’t feel right. There weren’t enough conversations for it to be believable, leading me not to buy into the relationship progression. The BDSM aspects included bondage, a molasses enema, and using a pinwheel, cane and wooden spoon to inflict pain.

This writing team is excellent, and if these elements work for you, then this should definitely be an enjoyable story.

Shepherd, Wise Man, and the Little Drummer Boy by E.F. Mulder

Shep, Rusty, and C.J. are about to make some decisions that will change their lives. They’ve all lived through some tough times, but together they can face all of their challenges and make a better life for themselves.

The characters all seemed like nice guys, and I thought they got along great. C.J. captured my heart with his cheerful and optimistic view on life even though he was in the midst of fighting cancer and learning to live without a few of his limbs. I would have liked to have gotten to know the characters better through dialogue instead of being told what was happening.

There were also too many other characters in the story. They added very little value but took away from the main relationship. I never developed strong feelings for Shep or Rusty and had a hard time understanding why they all fell in love with each other. I also really struggled with the sex scenes. Part of it related to the descriptions which didn’t feel sexy. The other part was the result of the missing emotional connection.

In the end, these three seemed happy together, and it certainly seem believable that they would find some way to make it work. Allowing themselves to rely on each other opened the door to love.

Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb

A romance develops between Lee and Cole on a cruise ship under interesting circumstances. Once the cruise is over, they need to decide if the relationship can survive.

I enjoyed this story and really liked both of the characters. The mystery of Cole’s friend on the cruise was just a minor part of the plot, but served as a backdrop for some of Cole’s behavior. Since Lee just went through a break-up, he’s sensitive and tends to take Cole’s actions personally. Their dialogue and interactions were presented in a realistic light. It wasn’t all sweet talk and roses. There was also some very minor kink in the steamy hot sex scenes.  I liked how the author continued the story after they left the cruise and entered the real world. You usually see somebody at their best on a vacation, and it was nice to see their relationship strengthen in a more realistic setting.

It felt like the author had a longer story to tell, but wanted to keep it short. Many of the chapters ended in the middle of a scene. We were always updated on the results through the next chapter, and I never felt lost. It was just an interesting writing style that took a bit of time to get used to reading. I liked it since it kept the story focused and kept it from feeling repetitive.

Book Blurb